Selena Gomez Gets Real About Feeling Overwhelmed These Days

"It still makes me a little uncomfortable."

It's been a remarkable year for Selena Gomez. The Disney darling successfully revamped her image and reestablished her career, introducing her fans to an entirely new — not to mention much, much edgier — sound. Most remarkable, though, is that she accomplished all of this while battling lupus. In August, she finished recording Revival after spending more than a year in the studio. In October, she underwent chemotherapy in an effort to fight off the autoimmune disorder. Both were, by all accounts, successful.

Talking to Billboard for their annual Woman of the Year cover, Selena opened about about her private health struggles that became very, very public this year: "It has been overwhelming and the response has been very supportive, which is nice — but it still makes me a little uncomfortable. I waited for the right time to talk about it because I am in a great place and I'm very healthy. I'm not trying to be loud about it: It was time to use my platform to help."

Lupus, which is inflammatory disease that happens when your body's immune system attacks your own tissues and organs, isn't treatable, but it is manageable. Because it's chronic, Selena will have it forever, but as long as she keeps things like stress in check — which is easier said than done especially if you're Selena Gomez — the disease is easier to deal with.

But dealing with the chronic condition hasn't gotten her down. And how could it? Have you listened to her album?! On the subject of Revival — and, in a larger sense, her life — she said, "Strength ­represents a ­vulnerability. This was the first time I was able to really trust myself and go with my gut." In fact, on a scale of 1 to 10, she called 2015 "a good 8." If this is Selena's 8, can you imagine what a 10 would look like? Come 2016, maybe we'll find out.